Unique gift idea no. 3 - Gifts from Oxfam, Greenpeace and Amnesty

Pooh to Christmas shopping! We all end up buying useless stuff, that stuffs up the world, for people with too much stuff. This Christmas, do your shopping and a make a difference. Buy ethical, quirky and inexpensive gifts through Oxfam, Greenpeace or Amnesty.
I just bought my mum a duck for $20. A duck gives families in Asia rich eggs, environmentally friendly fertiliser and pest control in their fields. My mum doesn't get an actual duck, she gets a cute card explaining that the money I would have spent on useless stuff for here, has instead helped Oxfam's agriculture campaign.
Greenpeace has lesser known but equally quirky Christmas gifts. You can save a tree for just $30. Alternativley, for $25 or less, you can buy pollution goggles for Santa (apparently milk and cookies are very last year), floaties for your cat (to keep puss safe from rising sea levels) or fund a deckhand for one day on board a Greenpeace ship.

Amnesty International has nice gifts, some without the quirky edge. My favourite is the "We know where you live" DVD, Amnesty's live comedy night hosted by Eddie Izzard for $20. Their UK shop features a fantastic range that includes fair trade, recycled and organic gifts. The badge is from their UK shop.

Unique Christmas gift no. 1. CD with origami twist

Christmas is looming and so I'm going to features some unique gift ideas. I'll will be paying especial attention to inexpensive and ethical gifts with a quirky edge. Here's the first one. It's cheap but the effort and thought makes it a really special gift.

Nothing is more personal than a compilation CD (and I'm not saying that because of High Fidelity -- it's true). But the truth is, handing over a home made CD doesn't make for the most inspiring looking gift, even if it is going to give someone hours of listening pleasure.
So give it a twist and enclose it using a beautiful origami case as shown below. It's easy.



And a hint for you: it really is easy if you pause and watch the video carefully. Take note of how the centre of the CD is used and watch how the ingenious maker is using the CD to link points together.